1. Look up where the domain is registered and who has the login.
2. Check the renewal date and turn on automatic renewal.
3. Update the payment card and the contact email on the account. If you change the domain owner’s email, the registrar sends a confirmation message to the new address. Answer it right away: if nobody confirms it, the registrar can suspend the domain, which takes the website and email offline.
4. Make sure renewal notices go to a business address that more than one person reads, plus a backup address that is not on the same domain, so notices and password resets still arrive if the domain stops working.
5. Write down who runs your email and website, and how each connects to the domain.

Find who holds the domain

1. ICANN Lookup shows the registrar and expiry date for most domains.

At the registrar

1. Turn on auto-renew and the transfer lock. Renewal notices usually go only to the account email and the domain owner’s email, so set both to addresses the business controls, including one that is not on this domain. If the registrar lets you add another user to the account, add one, so one person’s absence does not lock the business out.

• The domain sits in a former employee’s or web designer’s account.
• Email or the website stopped working around a renewal date.
• No one can sign in to the account where the domain is registered.

We find where the domain and email are held, who controls them, and what depends on them. We help move control to the business, check renewal and payment details, and record how the domain connects to email and the website. We leave domain settings alone until the cause of any problem is clear.

What happens if a domain expires?

Email and the website can stop working. Many registrars let you renew for a short time after expiry, sometimes for an extra fee, but depending on the registrar’s terms the name can be registered by or auctioned to someone else during that time. Renew as soon as you notice. Little Fight NYC can check your domain and email renewal settings before a notice is missed.

Should the domain and email be with the same company?

Not necessarily. What matters is that the business owns both accounts, knows how to sign in, and has a record of how they connect. Little Fight NYC can map how yours connect.